Each shape gets a weight.
Weight is the length of a stroke. A closed shape counts 1.5 times. Strokes at half of the largest weight or more are the body. The rest are parts.
The rig.
Before it moves anything, shapcn rigs the icon, as an animator parents layers.
- The heaviest shapes are the root: the body.
- A part belongs to the shape it touches. The antenna belongs to the head. The head belongs to the body.
- The rig sets the order. Deepest parts leave first and arrive last. Mirror parts move together.
What morphs?
The root of the rig becomes the root. The body becomes the body. A part ties to a part only when they are alike.
What moves?
Each part rides on its parent. A part with no partner goes into the body. A new part grows out of the edge it connects to. Nothing melts or fades.
A twin slides out.
A twin starts at half size behind its twin and slides out. Mirror parts in the rig move together.
When?
The rig sets the order. Old parts go in, deepest first: antennae into the head, then the head into the body. The body changes. New parts grow out in reverse order, deepest last.